Lemon&Rosemary cake.

I guess by now you know it, I love eating. I love cooking, baking, trying new dishes, learning how to be healthy and still enjoy meals as much as possible! If you're following me on instagram ( here ) you know, that food is a big part of my life. Being a high raw vegan, I eat a lot of vegetables and fruits, but I love baking. I love sweet things, and I'm not too crazy about raw desserts. Usually. (those fruits pies are an exception).

Anyway very often raw desserts are too rich in fat in my opinion, and I'd rather have something cooked instead!

This cake... is probably, one of my favourites that I've ever done. It is all that I love. Moist, not too sweet, no heavy icing, cream or anything of that sort, only lemon&rosemary deliciousness!

Lemon are one of my favourite fruits, (stay tuned for a lemon pie recipe soon) and rosemary one of my favourite herbs, AND this cake also involves some olive oil, which I love.

It reminds me so much of the sun,  the summer and the south of France, where I am from. Bref, it's great!

Souvenirs.

I've always been slightly messy. Whether or not the adverb really belongs to this sentence, or if I added it in order to feel better about myself, we shall not disclose. I've also always been very reluctant to throw things away. Which means I usually always find something when I try to hide my hands away from the cold in my pockets, or move my bed, or open a book. 

I also always need to buy new bookshelves, which always end up being weighed down under ... not only books. 

Very naturally then I like bringing things back from my trip. Unfortunately, planes being the number1 transport I'll use, and money always disappearing drastically I'm quite limited as to what I can bring back home.

(My sister would probably bless the luggage limitation though.)

I am obsessed with creating, keeping, storing and tasting memories over and over again. For that I have cameras, polaroids and digital, my phone, notebooks and pens and a bag that's always filled with recipts, flyers, leaves, papers of all sorts, sand, dried flowers or coins.

 While people may get overwhelmed by the amount of books and souvenirs and pictures and boxes I have, it feels comfortable, safe, precious to me. It's full of love and makes me feel at home. The memories of all those places I've loved visiting and exploring are treasures I wouldn't trade for anything! Especially not a white wall or a nice, tidy room!

I thought I'd share a few pictures with you!

this comes all the way from Japan and has travelled back in an orange juice bottle, which, you'd better believe I still have too!

Those come from St Michael in Kiev. I have a lot of Jesus/Christianism related things in my flat. They make me feel good.

Excuse the dust!I remember buying those in Cheddar, three years ago on a roadtrip with Jamie, my sweet friend from Malaysia, and Kieran !

coins, coins and coins. a classic.

I don't drink but I love bottles. The absynth comes from Prague, the little cologne bottle from... Cologne. and the brown one,from... Riga. Can you spot one of my favourite books in the back?!

A korean bill, a japanese card ... My desk also gets international.

One of my favourite things is my wall of things. And this map of the metro in Moscow.

Pictures and metro tickets are a must.

I love getting notebooks from different places. The CoCo Mary trip one is actually filled up with quotes and polaroids pictures from all my trips.

I got this one in Budapest, while following Gackt's tour in Europe. 

And this is my box of love. Full of a priori worthless things that mean the world to me and all remind me very special moments. Needless to say I wouldn't throw this away! Never!

There's much more, and I sometimes feel like I live in my own flee market where nothing is to sell, but that's something I love! I plan on getting better at bringing gifts and souvenirs back home, I guess I should start buying boxes right now... But that's a common thing for travellers right? Right?

The tea house in Nara.

April will be there soon again, it's just around the corner, I can smell it and the bright weather we had these past few days only accentuates the signs of its arrival. And just like last year, I cannot help but remember my trip to Japan, and everyday something reminds me of times, events or places I didn't even recall a few weeks ago. Brain and memory are curious things.
April is probably my favourite month. It's not too hot, but warm enough to sleep with open windows and spend hours sitting in the grass reading a book without a scarf, flowers are in bloom, the schoolyear is almost over and wait for it, I have a two-week holidays.
This month is also full of memories, beautiful and happy ones, and I am so excited that this year Budapest will be added to the list.

Two years ago, I finally went to Japan. During this trip I visited a bunch of cities, met many people, ate a LOT of good foods, drank various types of liquids, sailed, flew, took the train and little buses, car, taxi, I got sick and lost, had the prettiest mornings and spent some of the best nights of my life.

Among them, my favourite was probably the one I got to spend in Nara, in a very traditional and beautiful former tea house. When we arrived it was raining, and so was it when we left. The sky was grey, and Nara is a dark and wet city in my mind, however the time we spent, though short (too short) was so peaceful and すてき that I have only one regret : not spending longer in this ancient capital.